Reuters
Formula One F1 – Eifel Grand Prix – Nurburgring, Nurburg, Germany – October 11, 2020 Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo celebrates with sparkling wine on the podium after finishing in third place alongside race winner Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton Pool via REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay
Reuters
Formula One F1 – Eifel Grand Prix – Nurburgring, Nurburg, Germany – October 11, 2020 Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo celebrates with sparkling wine on the podium after finishing in third place alongside race winner Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton Pool via REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay
Daniel Ricciardo, after a long and arduous wait, finally managed to bring his car home on the podium at the Eifel Grand Prix. Ricciardo was under pressure from the Racing Point’s Sergio Perez for over 12 laps and in the end, finished the race barely 1.5 seconds ahead of the Mexican.
Amidst the multiple incidents and retirements occurring around Ricciardo, he stayed out of trouble throughout the race and brought his car home in one piece.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
As he crossed the line, Ricciardo sounded ecstatic as he asked, “Is that a podium boys? Is that a f****** podium?” on the team radio.
With this podium, the Australian ended a massive drought as his last podium was with the Red Bull back in 2018. What’s more, he fulfilled his Team Principal, Cyril Abiteboul’s wish.
Earlier this year, they made a deal that if Ricciardo finished a race on the podium, Cyril would have to get a tattoo. Sounds fairly easy right? Well, the catch was that the tattoo and its location would be picked by none other than the Honeybadger himself!
How the race went for Daniel Ricciardo?
Ricciardo had quite a straightforward race this afternoon at the Nurburgring circuit. He notched a decent start to the race, but was stuck behind Charles Leclerc for a handful of laps.
However, the moment he passed the Ferrari, he was in on clean air as he managed to create a decent gap between himself and the stragglers behind him.
Perez was his only threat as the Mexican did a longer first stint on the Softs before switching to the Mediums and was catching up with the Renault really fast. Too fast for the Australian’s comfort!
Fortunately, Lando Norris’ timely retirement pushed the stewards to call for a safety car that effectively helped Ricciardo solidify his lead. Most of the drivers pitted, including Perez and Ricciardo.
As the lights went green, Ricciardo pushed hard enough to keep Perez at bay. Although he was under pressure from Turn 1 through Turn 4, Ricciardo defended well against the Racing Point. At one point, Ricciardo even extended the gap to over 1 second, denying Perez of getting DRS.
With this weekend, Ricciardo has managed to make a huge leap into P4 on the drivers’ standings with a tally of 78 points.
